Chase & Hunt (out now, $2.99) simulates what life might be like as an eagle. Not only do you get to soar over vast terrain, but also catch prey.
The game offers you four environments to hunt in. The first, Hazarat, is a land of sun-beaten desert and abandoned dwellings. Here, you will hunt rabbits, prairie dogs, cats, and snakes, which are scattered all around. The second environment, Dewshire, located along green foothills, offers a hamlet and castle ruins, rivers and ocean views. Your prey (called bounty) consists of roosters, calves, sheep, cats, and monkeys. Next, Steepfall takes you into dry, reddish canyons — home to ducks, prairie dogs, piglets, dogs, and foxes. Finally, in Avalonia, you’ll fly across a lake and grassy plains with valley cottages, as well as snow-capped mountains. Aside from hunting chickens, pigs, monkeys, and foxes, you can try to catch the swift gazelle.
The latter three environments are locked, so you’ll have to pass the first to get to the next. This involves collecting a total bounty value of 250 and five rattlesnakes within 15 minutes. The time limit does make it quite challenging, especially since you might not be lucky enough to find the snakes fast enough. It would be better if the environments were split into several levels with differing challenges.
Each terrain in Chase & Hunt is gorgeous, although four levels does seem few. The controls consist of a virtual joystick on the left and a separate speed control on the right (swipe up to fly faster, and down to decelerate). These controls work well, but I wish an alternative tilt control was included.
It takes some patience to play Chase & Hunt. While it may be exciting to chase a prey, you often have to fly great distances just to catch one animal. It can get tiresome after a while. It might have been more interesting if there were more bounty to grab. I guess a real eagle would have to fly far to fill its stomach, although this game isn’t a true simulation, as you can’t exactly dive down to catch something, but have to practically skim the ground.
Verdict
Chase & Hunt offers beautiful terrains to fly over, and hunts can get exciting, but this game will probably appeal more to patient gamers. Having to hunt for prey after prey over long distances may feel repetitive after a while.